South Africa

WASP begins to take shape

www.socialistworld.net, 28/01/2013 website of the committee for a workers' international, CWI

Representatives from miners’ strike committees, community groups, trade
unions and left organisations met to discuss development new Workers &
Socialist Party

CWI reporters, South Africa

On Sunday 27th January, more than 50 representatives from miners’ strike
committees, community groups, trade unions and left political
organisations met at the invitation of the Democratic Socialist Movement
(DSM, CWI South Africa). The agenda of the meeting was the development
of the new Workers &
Socialist Party in the build up to its formal launch on 21st March -
Sharpeville Day.

Weizmann Hamilton from the DSM outlined how WASP had been born out of a
meeting on 15th December 2012 between miners’ strike committees - thrown
up by the workers in the course of the unrest in the mining sector last
year - and the DSM. Hamilton explained that the Marikana massacre had
been a watershed and that the gap between the masses and the ANC
government and their allies was now unbridgable. As such, a political
alternative for workers, communities and youth across the country is
desperately needed. WASP represents the beginning of that process.

The meeting unanimously endorsed this perspective, reaffirmed the launch
date for WASP, agreed a target of one million signatures in support of
WASP (see campaigns
page) by the one year anniversary of Marikana on 16th August, and
agreed to form an interim working group made up of delegates from the
supporting organisations of WASP to begin developing a manifesto and
spreading the idea far-and-wide in the run up to the launch.

The working group will hold its first meeting on Saturday 2nd February
in Johannesburg. Please contact WASP
for more info.

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